The Mini Con
by Leverage3621
Summary: Parker likes Nate so asks Sophie for help, who of course concocts a little con to get Nate to reveal whether or not he likes Parker and poor Eliot gets pulled into the chaos to pose as Parker's fake love interest. Nate/Parker
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

Pairing: Nate/Parker

A/N: So I've been wanting to do this story for awhile now but wanted to go ahead and get my Halloween one out of the way. I hope you guys enjoy.

Parker was about to open the door to headquarters, but before she could Nate opened it and walked right into her not knowing she was on the other side. He quickly reached out and grabbed her before she could fall over, "Sorry 'bout that Parker."

"Uh no it's fine," she told him with a nervous laugh taking notice that he still hasn't let her go yet; not that she was complaining, "So where are you headed off to?"

"Sophie, the crazy woman, is making me go grocery shopping because she's tired of being the only one who goes," he answered, "and I happened to walk in at just the right moment, so I'm the one who has to go."

Parker laughed, "Well I guess I showed up at just the right moment then."

"Lucky you," he said with a wink before releasing his grip and patting her on the shoulder before heading down the hall, "Hey if I'm not back in a few hours please come looking for me because I'll probably get lost in there."

"Yeah of course," she replied with a wave, shaking her head before walking into headquarters. "Hey guys."

Eliot gave a wave from the couch not even looking up from the television to say hello, "Yeah hey."

"Wow what a greeting, I almost felt a little warmth from that one," she stated sitting down next to Sophie at the dining room table.

"Now Parker you can't possibly expect Eliot to look away from a football game," Sophie declared sarcastically, "If you're looking for Nate he just left."

"Actually he ran into me on his way out," she said, "And you're mean for making him go grocery shopping all on his lonesome for like the first time ever."

"Well I'm hoping it will make him appreciate all I do around here," Sophie sighed glancing over at the thief and noticed she looked as though something were troubling her, "Hey what's wrong Parker?"

Parker gave a little shake to clear her head before looking over at Sophie trying to hide what was on her mind, "Nothing. Does it look as if something is wrong?...Um where's Hardison at?"

"Don't change the subject and I've known you for how long now? I think I'd know if something was at least on your mind," Sophie told her giving her a look that said to spit it out already.

"I do really want to know where Hardison is," Parker said easily not wanting to tell the grifter what was bothering her as she didn't really like to talk about her feelings even to the rest of the crew, who have all become very close friends and like a family to her.

"He's out of town for a few days, apparently he met someone online and set up a date so they could finally meet face to face," Sophie explained, "Now what's on your mind? You can tell me anything, you know that right Parker?"

She didn't know what made her finally give in, it could have been she just needed someone to talk to or it could have been the look from Sophie that made her spill her feelings to the grifter. Heaving a huge sigh of frustration she laid her head in her arms on the table, "I'm in love with Nate!"

At first Sophie didn't quite understand what she had said because it was a little muffled but after a few seconds, realized what it was that the thief exclaimed, "Whoa. You're what?"

Parker lifted her head glancing over at the couch to make sure Eliot was still absorbed into the game before repeating her earlier statement, "I'm in love with Nate. I honestly don't even know how it happened; it just hit me one day what I was feeling towards him. And the worst thing is that I feel as though sometimes he may feel the same way towards me but then the next day he goes back to his normal self. I'm just so confused Sophie. Please just tell me I'm stupid for feeling this way and that I should just get over it."

"You're not stupid. I'm not a hundred percent sure if he likes you but I do believe he may feel the same way," she told the thief when she thought back on how Nate would sometimes act around Parker.

"Really?" Parker asked a little shocked believing that she was just imagining a lot of the hints he may have given her, "Maybe you could ask him, you know, that way we'll know for sure."

Sophie thought about that but shook her head, "No I don't think he'd open up to me about that plus he'd probably get curious as to why I was asking in the first place and try to bury his feelings for you even deeper. No, we'll need a sneakier way to get him to reveal his love; yeah, we'll need to pull a con on him before he begins spilling his love out for you."

Parker glanced up at Sophie, who had an evil little smile on her face as though she were waiting her whole life to con Nathan Ford, "Uh Sophie, don't you think the mastermind of the whole group will see right through it?"

"Not if the acting is just right and I do believe I've taught you well enough over the past years that you can definitely pull this off, no problem," the grifter answered ideas already racing through her head, all she had to do was choose the perfect one.

The thief shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'Whatever', "So what will we exactly be doing?"

Sophie held her finger up to tell Parker that she was thinking; every once in awhile she'd shake her head before going to the next idea or she's tilt it slightly as if contemplating if that was the one she would go with, but finally a few minutes later smiled wide nodding her head, "Okay I've got it. We've got to make him jealous because trust me no one can hold back jealousy for very long, especially Nate."

"Okay….How exactly do we make him jealous?" Parker asked completely lost.

"We'll obviously need another guy for you to 'like'," Sophie air quoted on the last word looking around trying to think of someone she knew who would do this but smiled again when her eyes landed on Eliot, "Perfect."

"What's perfect?"

"Alright here's the plan, you'll ask Nate for help to get Eliot to like you because you really like Eliot and he'll be the only one to be able to help because Hardison is out of town and I suddenly go to New York for some prime shopping," she explained.

"And do we know he'll even say yes then?" Parker asked a little skeptical of her whole plan, "And that Eliot will even play along?"

"He'll agree especially if he likes you too, but I'm not saying it will be easy to convince him. But this whole thing should work because if he holds the same feelings he'll be jealous of Eliot and if pushed in the right spots should admit it," Sophie stated happy with her little con, "As for Eliot, well let's just say he better agree or his life will be a living hell around here for awhile."

"I don't know if this will work but I suppose it won't hurt," Parker stated, "but I don't know if I could do this alone, are you really going to go to New York?"

"No I'll be at my place giving you pointers through the ear bud," Sophie said noticing it was half time, "Hey Eliot come here I need to ask you something."

Eliot rolled his eyes before getting up and walking over to the table, "What?"

"We're going to help Parker by getting Nate to reveal that he loves her," Sophie told him bluntly.

"Whoa, what? How does that help Parker?" he asked confused and, frankly, not wanting any part in it what so ever.

"She loves him but we're not sure if he feels the same but if he does then we obviously need to get him to reveal it so they can be together, duh," she explained as though he should've have realized all this.

"Why can't Parker just say she likes him and find out that way?" he asked thinking that would be the most logical way to go about this whole dilemma.

"Because, Eliot, if he doesn't feel the same way then it would cause terrible awkwardness between them, and I don't want to be in a room with two people who feel awkward towards each other," she stated, "Now we need you to be the person Nate gets jealous of so Parker will ask him for help and advice on how to get you to like her."

"No, no, no. Who said I was even going to do this crazy idea?" he asked, "I'm not going to be in on this, get some other guy to do it."

"Oh come on Eliot," Parker pleaded," It shouldn't take too long and it's not like we have to kiss or anything."

"Wellllll….you may," Sophie informed her.

"Ew! I'm not kissing him," she exclaimed pointing at Eliot with a look of disgust.

"Hey I'm not even doing it so you don't have to, and I wouldn't be that bad to kiss," he defended.

"Eliot please just do this," Sophie begged, "This whole con relies on you, so please do this for a friend who needs you."

He looked from Sophie to Parker, both of whom had their puppy eyes shining and their bottom lips poking out at him, "Argh! Fine, I'll do it but you guys owe me, I don't know what yet, but you owe me."

"Oh Eliot you're amazing," Sophie screamed standing up and throwing her arms around him.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," he said, a small smile showing up on his face.

"Yeah thanks Eliot," Parker told him glad that he agreed, ready to start their mini con.

"So what exactly do I have to do?" he asked glancing back at the television to see if the game was back on.

"Basically just fall for Parker when she begins to flirt with you, which she'll be getting advice on from Nate," the grifter explained, "And I'll be gone on a 'trip' but in reality I'll be somewhere else giving you guys both pointers when needed. We can get together later to plan it out in more detail so Eliot can return to watching his game, plus we don't want Nate walking in on any of this."

"Sure," the hitter agreed walking back to the couch to finish watching the game wondering what in the hell he got himself into.

"Thanks Sophie," Parker told her sincerely not realizing how much she was willing to do for her until today, "I mean it."

"You're welcome, we're like family and I always help my family in need," she told the thief glancing towards the door when she heard it open, "Looks as though we got it all figured out just in time."

"Looks that way," Parker responded waving at Nate when he came through the door grocery bags in hand.

He walked over to the counter dropping the bags, "Well don't just sit there; there are a lot more bags in the car."

"Ahh, Nate, we didn't need too much, what in the world did you buy?" Sophie asked annoyed with the man and he hasn't even been there for five minutes yet.

"I didn't know what we did and did not need so I…..bought a lot of stuff; and cereal because Parker seems to go through that stuff pretty quick," he stated heading back out the door to continue to bring in more bags.

"I swear Nate, I think you bought the whole store," Sophie exclaimed after seeing all the bags on the counter with some having been placed on the floor due to the counter being out of space.

"Hey if you don't like it then send someone else next time," he defended going to sit down next to Eliot to finish watching the game.

"Um you have to unload," the grifter stated becoming more annoyed with the man by the minute.

"Uh-uh, I toted all the bags up here and bought it all; you can unload," he stated in a tone that told her he was through talking.

"It'll go a lot quicker if you help us, Nate," Parker told him in a pleading kind of way.

He sighed getting up from the couch, "Fine I'll help but I'm doing this for you not her."

Parker smiled at his statement, beginning to believe that maybe, just maybe Sophie's mini con will actually work.

A/N: Well everyone that's it for chapter one but I do hope you guys enjoyed reading it and I would love it if you told me what you think so far. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews and I'm glad I decided to post chapter one when I did because I was definitely struggling with writing the rest of the story, in fact I had two other chapters completely written but wasn't happy with them at all but got some pretty good ideas come to mind after reading your reviews so a HUGE thanks to those of you who did, especially to ClaudiaRain who requested a scene that I definitely couldn't turn down, lol, and never would have thought of. I hope you guys enjoy and as always let me know what you think.

The next day Parker left Sophie's house a little nervous about what was to come next because for one she wasn't even sure they'd be able to even con Nate (cause he was the mastermind of the team after all) and two her acting skills weren't that great and Nate usually knew when she was acting or not.

As if Sophie could hear her thoughts, the grifter's voice came through the ear bud she was wearing, "Parker don't worry, I know you'll be just fine."

"I'm glad at least one of us is confident," Parker muttered as she got out of her car heaving a giant sigh before heading up to headquarters to begin their little plan.

She walked in to Nate's apartment noticing him in the kitchen, "Hey Nate."

He looked up from what he was doing and smiled when he saw it was Parker, "Hey what are you doing here?"

"Uh just wanted to come over is all," she replied nervously hoping she could pull this off. She went over to the dining table and sat down trying to think of a way to get the conversation in a direction she could use to ask Nate for help.

He glanced over and noticed that Parker either looked worried or nervous he couldn't really tell exactly which one it was, "Is something bothering you?"

Her head whipped over in his direction, "Uh….no…why?"

"It just looks as though you're worried about something," he told her concerned, "Are you sure there isn't anything on your mind?"

She sighed looking away from his gaze, "Well I guess there's kinda something but I'm sure you don't want to hear about it."

Nate grabbed his glass of water and joined Parker at the table reaching over to hold her hand in his, "I'd like to hear it. So what's up?"

She smiled at their contact before asking, "I was wondering if you could help me with something; I'd ask Sophie but she's out of town because apparently there's some huge sale thing going on in New York and she had to be there or something like that; I couldn't really tell as she just kept babbling on and on."

"_Hey!" Sophie interjected, "I do not babble…..do I?"_

He laughed, "That sounds like her. So shoot. What do you need help with?"

Parker took a deep breath, "I like Eliot and need your help on how I can get him to return those feelings."

Just as she began talking, Nate had taken a sip of water and nearly spit it out then began coughing when it went down the wrong way.

She quickly jumped up and began patting him hard on the back not believing what just happened, hoping she wasn't about to kill the man she loved. Finally Nate quit coughing long enough to ask, "Arg…huh…You what?"

"I like Eliot and was wondering if you could-"

"Yeah I heard the rest," he interrupted trying to wrap his head around that her previous statement, "You like Eliot? The _same_ Eliot that works on this team?"

"Yes," Parker said slowly, "Is there a problem with me liking him?"

"Uh….no..it's just that I thought you…nevermind," he began, "I'm not too sure I'm the one for the job though."

"Oh come on Nate, please do this," Parker pleaded, "I'd wait for Sophie but who knows how long that woman will be shopping for and I know I'd just mess up my chance if I tried on my own. Please, please, please help me."

Nate started shaking his head no but glanced over at her and saw how desperate she looked for his help and knew he wouldn't be able to turn her down no matter how much he was against her and Eliot getting together (and wasn't even completely sure why), "Fine I'll help but I'm not promising much."

"Oh thank you Nate!" Parker stood up throwing her arms around his neck in a hug.

He then slowly wrapped his arms around her waist rather enjoying this rare moment coming from Parker, wishing it didn't have to end so soon. She pulled back, a huge smile on her face, and sat back down happy that Nate seemed to be falling for the little con Sophie put together.

"_Alright Parker, the hard part's over with," Sophie informed the thief glad that the plan at least had a chance to work, "Now the fun truly begins."_

"Whatever you say," Parker mumbled forgetting for a moment she wasn't alone.

"Huh?" Nate asked confused with what the thief said.

"Ahhh..I'll do whatever you say," she said trying to cover her slip up as best as she could, "So what's the first step in getting him to like me?"

Nate gave a sigh not believing he actually agreed to go through with helping her, "Uhh…First step would be to get a connection going and for him to obviously notice you as someone he could potentially end up being with. You can try finding something both of you like to talk about or you can talk about something you know he's interested in and act as though you're interested in what he's saying. Also just have a little contact now and again, like touch his shoulder or his hand; stuff like that."

"That doesn't sound too hard to do," Parker replied and as if on cue (which he was by Sophie) Eliot came walking through headquarters' door.

He noticed the two of them sitting at the table and went over to sit down next to Parker, who began staring at Nate with a panicked look, "Sup guys?"

Nate stood up heading back to the kitchen so he could signal to Parker without drawing Eliot's attention, "Not much."

Parker noticed Nate pointing at Eliot then used the classic talk signal to let her know she should begin talking to him. "Oh uh nothing. How about you?"

Eliot smiled at her, "Not much. I was bored and thought I'd head over here to see if anything was going on."

"Why is it that everyone comes to my house?" Nate asked wondering how his house became the social spot for the crew to hang at.

"Because it's also our headquarters," Eliot replied as if it was obvious, "Plus it's just habit."

"Yeah well it's a bad habit," Nate muttered a twinge of anger coursing through him when he saw Parker reach over to touch Eliot's shoulder.

"So if you're bored let's do something," Parker suggested giving Eliot's shoulder a little squeeze before lightly running her hand down his arm when she pulled away.

Eliot glanced down where her hand just was, a small smile appearing before he leaned in a little closer towards her, "Sure. What do you want to do?"

She looked around the place trying to think of something they could do for fun but something that would also allow her to 'advance' on Eliot plus make Nate jealous all at the same time. She was about to just suggest they watch a movie but before she did her eyes landed on the pool table they decided to add a few months ago. "How about a little game of billiards?"

Eliot stood up, "I'm game, but I'm going to warn you I'm going to win."

She laughed then poked him in the chest, "We'll see about that. You going to play Nate? I'll sit out the first game and play the winner."

The mastermind was going to decline but made the mistake of looking at Parker who had a pleading look on her face with a hint of panic and caved in, like he always did, "Yeah I'll play. You can break first Eliot."

"Alright," the hitter nodded choosing a pool stick and setting the cue ball in the place he wanted. He leaned over pulled back on the stick and shot it forward successfully hitting the ball and breaking the rest getting a solid colored ball in a corner pocket.

"Woohoo! Go Eliot," Parker cheered from the side causing him to smile and Nate to clench his teeth in another twinge of anger.

When Eliot was concentrating on taking his turn, Nate would walk over to Parker and tell her small things she should do or say and how she should react to certain things Eliot did, and he hated every minute of it because he just couldn't see Eliot and Parker getting together, they just weren't right for each other. Nate, however, kept his mouth shut about his opinion because if it made her happy then it couldn't be too bad of a thing if they did end up dating. He then came up with a small plan for them to connect with each other, "I think I've just thought of a way for you two to get a little closer and start forming a small bond."

She glanced over at him noticing that he didn't look particularly pleased with what he was about to suggest to her, "How is that?"

"You're going to act as though you don't know how to play and that way he can 'teach' you thus allowing you to establish a connection."

"Are you sure that will work?" Parker asked before clapping as Eliot got another ball in, "Go Eliot!"

Nate looked over at her and how happy she did look, briefly thinking why it couldn't be him that was causing that beautiful smile of hers and knew that he would have to stop with those kind of thoughts if he was going to successfully help her win Eliot over, but he was beginning to realize that maybe he had fallen for the small thief, which made his current task even harder for him to deal with.

"Trust me it will work," Nate replied before heading over to the table to take his turn getting the eight ball in causing him to lose the game.

"That's too bad, man," Eliot said happy he won then looked over at Parker giving her his best charming smile, "Alright Parker you ready to lose?"

"You may have just won that round but don't count on winning another one," she told him waiting for him to break, nervous about what was coming up because she wasn't too sure she'd be able to pull off the whole flirting thing, as she wanted to back up and pull away every time Eliot went to just simply touch her on the shoulder or arm. She glanced over at Nate who gave her an encouraging smile, as best as he could, which actually succeeded in giving her a little confidence boost.

Eliot turned to her, "Your turn. Let's see what you got."

She took a breath before stepping up to the table leaning down making sure she held the pool stick wrong and took a bad shot at the cue ball eliciting a laugh from Eliot.

"Haha. Oh yeah I'm sooo going to lose," he joked realizing that Nate must have told her to play bad, which definitely wasn't a bad idea.

"So I've never really played before," Parker pouted, "But that doesn't mean you have to laugh at me."

"You're right," he nodded and quit laughing at her as best as he could, "Well since it would be so unfair to actually play against me how about I teach you how to play instead. Then we'll put your new skills to the test."

"Teach me? You'd actually do that?" she asked beaming at him.

"Sure why not," Eliot said, "Everyone should know how to play pool."

Nate walked back to the kitchen knowing he didn't want to see what came next because if he had stayed to watch he probably would have ended up doing something stupid like hitting Eliot in a fit of jealousy or blurt out his feelings he was beginning to discover he had for Parker.

"Alright first this is how you hold a pool stick properly," he demonstrated reaching over to correct her placing his hands over hers to show her, "There, ya got it. Great job!"

She glanced over to the kitchen real quick to see what Nate was up to hoping he was watching otherwise she was putting herself through torture for nothing but caught his eye before drawing her attention back at Eliot who was explaining the basic rules of the game.

"So now that you know what to do try taking another shot," he stated standing back to watch her. She took the shot and missed again. "Uh that wasn't too bad."

"I missed the ball Eliot," Parker told him acting aggravated that she couldn't seem to get how to play.

"Don't get mad," he said quietly walking up behind her, "Here I'll guide you through it."

Nate happened to look over towards them wishing he didn't because Eliot was right up against Parker his hands over hers guiding her how to take the shot. He slammed his cup down a little harder than was needed before shooting his head over at the televisions when he heard Hardison.

"Whoa there man, maybe you should be the one on vacation," the hacker stated, "I was just going to check in see how everyone was doing. So is anyone else here, Mr. Grumpypants?"

"You could just call us," Nate said, "And for your information my cup slid from my hands."

"Uh-huh," Hardison said skeptically rolling his eyes.

"It did," Nate defended, "_Eliot_ and Parker are _playing_ pool."

Alec wondered why Nate stressed the word's Eliot and playing but brushed it off before typing in a few things on his keyboard so he could pan the camera over to see them. When he saw them he couldn't quite believe his eyes, Eliot was basically leaning over and against Parker showing her how to hold the pool stick and how to draw it back to take her shot all the while whispering in her ear and laughing every once in a while at something she said. "Whoa! What in the hell is happening here? This is still Earth right, I haven't somehow tapped into some other universe out there?"

They both jumped up breaking apart looking around to see where Hardison was.

"Uh Hardison was that you?" Parker asked not seeing him anywhere.

"Oh it was me. I wish I could erase what I just saw, but it was me," he explained, "I'm connected to the tv and watching through the camera, though that is definitely a decision I am now regretting."

Parker and Eliot walked into the living room and saw a huge picture of Hardison's head peering out at them from the various televisions, "Shut up Hardison. I was just teaching Parker how to play pool."

"Riiiiight. Teaching, is that what they call it because that didn't look like teaching to me if you know what I'm saying. Had I not interrupted who knows what you two would be doing on that pool table right now, which is for _all_ of us so please keep that in mind," he stated glad he interrupted them when he did, "And I'm definitely not going to ever ask you to teach me anything man."

"It's not what it looked like Hardison," Parker said trying to explain to the hacker that Eliot really was just trying to teach her how to play as they couldn't really explain what it was they were truly trying to accomplish since Nate was still in the kitchen and could easily overhear them.

"Well all I'm saying is that Eliot wouldn't be so touchy, at least I'm hoping, if it was me he was teaching," he argued, "I'm thinking there's something going on between you two so don't even try to deny it."

"Just shut up and go. Plus aren't you supposed to be with some woman anyway?" Eliot asked, "Or did she see you and realize that the picture on the computer was Photoshopped?"

"No," Hardison said quickly, "Ashley and I are hitting it off pretty well thank you. I just had time to kill between now and our date and thought I'd be nice and see how everyone was doing but I see you two are doing fairly well without me."

"Yeah we are having a fun time together," Parker stated and jumped, along with Eliot and Hardison, when she heard something slam behind her in the kitchen. She turned around to see what was going on, "You okay in there Nate?"

"Absolutely terrific," he stated sarcastically throwing a few ingredients into the pot he just slammed onto the stove. "Just making lunch."

They all kind of looked at each other wondering what had Nate so upset with Parker hoping that maybe it was a sign that he was jealous which meant that he at least had feelings for her causing her to give a little smile glad that this crazy idea was working.

"He was grumpy when I talked to him earlier," Hardison informed them.

"He's probably just mad that I beat him at pool," Eliot explained knowing that wasn't the case at all.

"Haha. Maybe you should give Nate a few lessons Eliot," Hardison laughed, "Maybe he could benefit from your teaching."

"Shut it Hardison," the hitter yelled, "Now if you'll excuse us we have things to do."

"You better not do those things on the pool table," Hardison yelled as they began walking away, "Cause remember it is all of ours."

"Just go Hardison," Parker sighed annoyed at the hacker already and he wasn't actually even back yet, "Or I'll tell your girlfriend that you still sleep with the light on and with a teddy bear."

"Hey there are things in the dark that can kill you," he defended, "And that teddy bear was a gift from one of our client's kids, that's all I'm saying."

"That doesn't mean you have to sleep with it," she pointed out.

"I will have you know that I use it to block the light from my clock on my side table," he stated, "Now if you will excuse _me_, I have a date to get ready for. Goodbye you bunch of rude people. See if I ever try to do a nice gesture towards ya'll again."

Eliot glanced over and saw he was gone, "Finally now we can get back to what we were doing."

"So where were we," Parker asked a little flirtatiously when she noticed that Nate was watching them .

"Right about here," Eliot whispered back putting his hands back over hers to show her how to take a shot. "Alright you did it. See I knew you could."

"I couldn't have done it without you Eliot," she stated in a grateful manner hoping Nate was still listening in and watching as she gave him a quick little hug. "Thank you."

"It's nothing," Eliot told her not quite expecting her to actually hug him.

"I'm going to go get something to drink then I'll be back to put all this teaching to use," Parker said giving him a little wink and running her hand across his back when she walked by him. She walked over to Nate when she entered the kitchen, who was still cooking, "Am I doing okay?"

"Huh, yeah I'd say so," he stated trying to keep the anger out of his voice, "If you keep this up he'll definitely be falling head over heels for you."

"Thank you Nate," she told him, "So you really think he likes me?"

"Oh yeah but even if he doesn't now then he will soon with all the flirting you've been doing."

"Am I over doing it because I'm just doing what you told me to," she pointed out.

Nate sighed trying to calm himself down because Parker didn't deserve the attitude he was giving her, as he was the one who agreed to help so he shouldn't get angry with her though he wasn't going to hold back his anger from Eliot, "You're right. I'm sorry it's just that…."

"That what?" Parker asked wondering if he was going to tell her he liked her.

He acted as though he was going to continue but shook his head instead, "Nothing. You're doing just fine. You may want to head back before he begins to wonder why you're talking to me so long."

"Yeah. Thanks again though Nate," she said giving him a small smile and receiving one in return.

"No problem," he told her as he watched her go back over and begin flirting with Eliot again wishing this day would hurry up and be over with so it would end the torture of having to watch the woman he was falling for flirt and seduce another man.

A/N: I'm sooo incredibly sorry for how long it took me to update but I've been pretty busy and had a bit of writer's block hit me and hopefully it won't take me as long to get chapter three up. Hope you enjoyed and pretty please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer:

A/N: Wow I've certainly been taking my time on this story; sorry guys yet again for making you wait so long for the next chapter and I promise I will try my hardest to have the next one up sooner, try being the key word. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read my story and hopefully you guys enjoy.

Two days; two long, miserable, agonizing days Nate has had to watch Parker (the woman he likes maybe even loves) flirt with Eliot (the man he has recently grown a strong dislike for) so that the hitter would begin to see that he also likes Parker as well. He didn't know when this torturous favor would be over with, but he was hoping soon because he was currently at some fancy restaurant sitting alone a few tables away from where Parker and Eliot were having their date. He wouldn't have even been there if Parker hadn't begged hours earlier for him to come just in case she needed him. _'I have to start learning how to tell that woman no,' _he thought miserably to himself, _'Or just admit I can't help her anymore…..or admit my feelings for her.' _

Nate politely smiled as the waitress delivered his food to him though he didn't know how much longer he could take the look of pity she was giving him because honestly can't a person come and treat themselves to a nice dinner without having company. But obviously it was a strange thing to do because he got the same look from everyone who walked by his table and even got an invite from an elderly couple asking him if he would like to join them but politely declined their offer willing this night to be over with or better yet for Parker to come to her senses and realize that she didn't really like Eliot the way she thought she did.

As he began eating his dinner, he glanced over at Parker to make sure she didn't need any help, but wished he hadn't when he saw Eliot give a nervous smile before leaning over and giving her a small kiss on the cheek. He stabbed into his steak and began cutting it up rather viciously (causing a few people to stare warily in his direction) wanting so bad to go over and ask Eliot what he thought he was doing and probably would have if the hitter had actually kissed her on the lips.

He was about through eating when he thought that maybe he should stop helping her to win over Eliot's heart and start trying to get her to decide that she liked him instead of Eliot. The only problem with that though was they were pretty much through with their current plan because the hitter obviously developed feelings towards her because he did ask her on a date, but maybe there was enough time left to still sabotage their newly developing relationship before it really took off. The only thing that was holding him back from him going through with his new (evil) plan was how Parker would react because it wouldn't do him any good to go through with it only to have her become angry with him and have the chance that she may never forgive him.

He sat there running through all the possible outcomes of him going through with his plan trying to decide the probability of a good reaction from Parker to a bad one and finally decided that he had to give it a try because he would hate to be sitting at their wedding (which he hoped would never happen) and regret not trying to win her over. The easiest thing probably would have been to tell her how he really felt and go from there but Nate always hated straight forward approaches.

It was a good thing he looked up from his table when he did because they were currently at the front paying for the meal; he quickly called over the waitress to tell her he was ready and paid for his dinner minutes later trying to remember where Parker said they were going after dinner. _'Come on Nathan, think,' _he yelled at himself wishing he paid better attention to her, _'Movies! Yes that's it the movies, now which theater?'_

He got in his car straining his brain to remember when his phone jingled signaling he had a message and gave a sigh of relief when he noticed it was Parker telling him where they were headed to next just in case he forgot. "Thank you Parker," he said before starting the car and heading off to hopefully begin breaking those two apart.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Argh Parker why did you have to ask him to watch over you?" Eliot asked completely annoyed, "We could be at home right now instead of here watching some lame chick flick."

"One, I told you we could watch an action movie but noooo _someone_ had to listen to Sophie's advice," she stated not wanting to be here anymore than he did, "And two, it's so Nate will get even more jealous, duh."

Eliot did a quick glance around the theatre trying to see if he could spot the mastermind anywhere, "I don't even think he's here, so can we please leave?"

"_No you two cannot leave," Sophie chimed in for the first time that night, "He's probably just getting a drink or something. Now you two have to stay strong or we're doing this whole thing for no reason at all. I'm pretty sure within the next couple of days he'll crack and everything will come pouring out."_

"Agh I hope so because I'm tired of flirting with Eliot," Parker murmured, "I think it's stroking his ego a little too much and causing his head to get bigger; he was barely able to fit the huge thing through the door."

"Haha Parker very funny," he exclaimed sarcastically, "My ego is perfectly fine, what I'm doing is called acting."

"Whatever," she stated in a way that said she wasn't buying it, "I think I want some gummy worms."

"You just ate!" he said in disbelief, "Do you have a bottomless stomach or something?"

"No I just happen to like gummy worms," she answered wondering why he found it weird she wanted a snack, "But sheesh I'll wait until we leave before I get some, I didn't realize I had a time limit before I could eat again."

Eliot pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, "You don't it's just that we literally just got through with dinner in which you stated you were full."

Parker was about to respond back but looked up when she heard Nate's voice.

"Uh-oh there isn't any trouble in paradise is there," the mastermind asked sliding past Eliot and Parker to sit down to her right; he ignored the look she was giving him clearly asking what in the world he was doing. "You guys don't mind me sitting by you do you?"

Eliot blinked a few times trying to figure out what Nate's plan was before finally answering him, "Um we're kind of on a date."

"Well just don't mine me," he brushed off easily, "You won't even know I'm here, but I will say that a date usually doesn't involve fighting but I swear that's all I'll say."

"We weren't fighting, we just had a little discussion-" Eliot began.

"Sounded like a fight," he interrupted, "Oh Parker I got some gummy worms if you want some."

"Uh….thanks," she said slowly wondering what Nate was playing at, "So what are you doing here?"

"To watch a movie," he said as if it was obvious, "I know you're probably thinking why would I want to see this one but I do have a soft spot in my heart. So how has the rest of your date been; more cheerful than now I hope?"

_Sophie quickly put together what must have happened and decided they could run with this, "Okay Parker new plan, go along with Nate and tell him you haven't really had such a great time. Eliot I want you to get defensive and really show that you like her; I mean really push the subject and maybe we can finally get Nate and his stubborn ass to reveal his true feelings for Parker, if you have to start a fight that should make him begin to stop thinking about what he wants to say and will just begin to spit things out."_

Parker gave a nod of her head agreeing with Sophie realizing the other woman couldn't see it and Eliot gave a huge sigh rolling his eyes as he did so.

The thief looked over at Eliot then to Nate whispering, "To be honest I haven't had such a great time; he's way too controlling."

"Really?" he asked secretly glad that things didn't seem to be going so well, _'Maybe I'll have a chance after all.'_

"It's true," she continued," When I told him I wanted gummy worms he basically said no because we just ate and I shouldn't be hungry."

He was going to respond but Eliot interrupted before he could. "Hey Nate I thought you said it would be like you weren't even here?" Eliot asked adding a little anger to his voice giving the other man the hint he wasn't appreciating him talking to Parker.

"Oh yeah right," Nate said, "Sorry about that, it's just that you guys seemed as though you were hitting it off pretty well earlier this week only to find out that maybe you two don't quite mesh well together."

"We mesh just perfectly fine!" Eliot responded acting upset with Nate's pushing and received a few 'shushes' from the people behind him since the movie had started. "You shush!"

"Look man we're just trying to enjoy the movie so could you keep it quiet?" a guy asked him nicely.

"No I can't keep it quiet," Eliot exclaimed standing up, "This man here, who I know, just came in and interrupted my date accusing me that our relationship seems to be going downhill, so no I will not be quiet."

An usher came up behind Eliot hearing the whole thing, "Then I'll have to ask the three of you to leave and please don't make me call the cops."

Parker had to hold in laughter at how far this whole thing had gone and had to 'push' Eliot out of the theatre so he quit causing a disturbance to the other viewers. They arrived outside only a couple of minutes later.

Nate knew he should probably quit while he was ahead but wanted to see how far he could push, "Thanks a lot Eliot; I really wanted to see that movie too.

"Then maybe you should have shut your mouth," Eliot stated angrily, "Because it's Parker and_ I_ on the date not Parker and _you_."

"I can talk to whomever I want to," Nate shot back just as angry except his wasn't fake anger like Eliot's was, "It's a free country and apparently I'm more fun to be with than you Mr. Controlling."

"Look man I don't know what in the hell your deal is exactly," Eliot started walking closer towards Nate with each word, "But just leave us alone because we're perfectly fine without you coming in to ruin things. Parker's mine so…back….off!"

Nate stumbled a little bit backwards when Eliot pushed him a little surprised the hitter was fighting so hard for Parker, "Don't push me Eliot. If you're going to act the way you are towards her then you don't deserve her!"

"Ha! I don't deserve her? That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard you say yet," Eliot laughed causing Nate's blood to boil even more, "I'm twice the man you'll ever be so how about you just go home and drink yourself into unconsciousness because you're never going to win."

Something inside Nate just snapped, he wasn't quite sure what it was that Eliot said that pushed him over the edge but there was definitely no turning back. He grabbed Eliot and slammed the hitter hard against a nearby wall and let all the jealousy he had been feeling the past few days envelope him because right now he didn't particularly care if Parker found out he loved her, "Listen here Eliot I may not deserve Parker either but at least if she was with me I would treat her with respect and it's obvious that you don't even love her or even like her."

"Oh and you do?" Eliot asked knowing they had him and that everything he and Parker did these past couple of days was finally going to pay off.

The hitter's question shook Nate up a little because he didn't expect him to just come out and ask him that, but he sighed letting go of Eliot before quickly glancing towards Parker, who looked as though she were pleading him to answer the question, but then looked back towards the hitter to answer him hoping that Parker wouldn't hate him for what he was about to say, "Yes, Eliot, I do. I love her…"

A/N: I like little cliffhangers and hopefully this time I won't leave you guys hanging too long as I hope to have the ending posted by Monday or Tuesday at the lastest, but don't hold me to that. Thanks for reading and please review and let me know what you guys think. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage.

A/N: I thought I'd try and make up for the biggish breaks between my other chapters so here's the final chapter and you actually didn't have to wait a week, lol. A huge thanks to those of you who have read my story and an additional thanks to those who reviewed it. Please enjoy!

Eliot let out a huge sigh of relief that this whole thing was over with, then looked Nate in the eye with a huge smile planted on his face, "Well don't tell me man, I'm not the one you love. Tell her."

Nate was beyond confused because just minutes ago Eliot was yelling at him and fighting for Parker but now he seems as if he could care less that Nate loves her. He shook his head a little trying to clear the confusion, which didn't help but turned towards Parker nonetheless; she had a smile bigger than Eliot's with tears threatening to fall down her cheeks at the same time, "Did I miss something?"

"_It's up to you two whether or not you want to tell him about the whole con thing," Sophie informed them, "But I will give you some advice he probably won't like it."_

Parker glanced over at Eliot with a questioning look wanting his opinion on whether they should tell Nate now or later; he just shrugged his shoulders silently letting her know it was her decision since this whole thing was for her. She sighed glancing over at Nate, who still looked incredibly confused waiting for an answer to his question, "Um maybe we should probably go back to headquarters and I'll explain everything there."

"Ooookay," he responded slowly dying to know what in the hell was going on.

"That way if you get upset it won't be in public," she continued, "I'll meet you over there."

Nate nodded before heading to his car, thinking back on how strange of a night this has truly been; first he was at a restaurant to make sure the woman he fell in love with didn't need his help on her date, then he decided to try and sabotage her date, third he fought with her date eventually letting her know how he loved her, and finally he know found that instead of either being happy or mad with his declaration she had something to explain to him. This was definitely one of the weirdest nights of his life.

The thief turned to Eliot after Nate left, "Well I suppose we succeeded, now let's just hope he takes the news well."

"Ha. I have a feeling he's going to be pissed," Eliot told her, "But congratulations."

"Hopefully," she said before giving him a small smile, "Thanks and I mean that."

"No problem. I actually had fun making him jealous," he laughed, "You want me to go over there with you?"

"A duh, I'm not going to suffer his wrath all by myself," she informed him thinking he was crazy if he thought she was going to Nate's alone.

"I figured as much," he said shaking his head, "Huh, I suppose we should go ahead and go over so we can get through with this as quick as we can."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

Nate's eyes were glued to the door wondering when they were going to get there to explain; he'd been home for ten minutes already so he didn't understand what was taking Parker and Eliot so long to arrive. Finally after another ten minutes of waiting they came walking through the door rather hesitatingly, "It's about damn time!"

"Sorry, we ran into….traffic?" Parker said trying to come up with an excuse as to why it took her and Eliot so long, but the truth was they spent the last ten minutes or so coming up with how they were going to explain the con to him.

"Whatever," he brushed off with a wave of his hand, "Just explain to me what's going on because I didn't quite expect this type of reaction after I just told you that I love you."

Parker nervously walked towards the table and sat down across from him, "First off I just want to say sorry ahead of time but just know I only did this because of what I feel for you. Three or four days ago I was talking to Sophie and I told her that I loved you-"

"You what?" he asked surprised but still confused.

"Just let me finish," she told him taking a deep breath before continuing, "So after I told her that, I also asked her if she knew if you liked me or not, in which her answer was no. So she came up with a plan or I suppose you could call it a small…con so we could find out if you did like me."

Nate had a look of disbelief written all over his face, he didn't have to hear the rest because he figured it out, "So you came to me asking me for help with Eliot but this whole time it was only to make me jealous wasn't it?"

"Pretty much," Eliot chimed in waiting for the yelling to begin, bracing himself.

"I can't believe you guys would do that," Nate started, "So Sophie was the brains behind it all? If so she wouldn't be in New York shopping, no, she'd be here wanting a front row ticket. How are you guys communicating with her?"

So she didn't give it away, Parker pointed to her ear letting him know they're using the ear buds.

He stood up and quickly went over to grab his wanting to give Sophie a piece of his mind. He finally found it and put it in, "Have you found the past couple of days amusing Sophie?"

"_Oh shit. You two could have warned a woman," Sophie complained._

"Hey if we're going to get yelled at, you might as well also," Eliot reasoned with her, "Since you were the brains behind it all."

"_I hate you right now Eliot," she told him before answering Nate's question, "Some moments were amusing but I was doing this for Parker; I mean can you honestly say no to her especially when she gives you that pleading look?"_

"Hey you were the one who insisted this was the best way to go about this whole thing," Parker interjected not wanting to be in any more trouble than she already was.

"_Not helping Parker," Sophie stated._

"You could have done something that didn't involve tricking me," Nate told her as if that was the most obvious out of the choices.

"_Yeah right Nathan," Sophie began explaining, "Do you honestly think you would have told Parker your true feelings if she or I straight up asked you about them? No you wouldn't have and you know it. You should just be grateful that we got you to reveal your feelings because this way you two can move forward."_

Nate was about to respond but Parker spoke up before he could, "Nate I would have told you how I felt but I didn't…no…couldn't have handled it had you not felt the same way; I would have been crushed. I only agreed to do this crazy idea because of how much I do love you. Tell me this; if you were in my shoes, would you have done anything differently because I think your actions tonight tell me that you wouldn't have. You could have easily just told me your feelings for me but instead you decided to try and break Eliot and me apart instead."

He was about to object but realized she was right, what he did tonight wasn't really any different he just had to suffer a little more with their plan, "I guess you're right, but…I don't know…I guess I'm just angry that….I don't even know why I'm angry anymore, at first it was because I was lied to then it was because I found out it was Sophie who came up with whole ordeal. I suppose I could still be angry with her and Eliot but I can't ever stay angry at you."

"_Hey that is sooo not fair," Sophie griped, "You should be praising me that I was able to even con you."_

"Not going to happen Soph," Nate told the other woman.

Eliot clasped his hands together loudly getting everyone's attention, "Well now that that's all settled, I'm going to go so Nate can't decide that he wants to kill me for having my hands all over the woman he loves. Goodbye."

"Smart choice Eliot," Nate told the hitter before he left. "And goodbye to you to Sophie," Nate said before taking his ear bud out and motioning for Parker to do the same so they could talk in private.

Parker sat there a few minutes studying his face trying to figure out what he was thinking and how he was feeling, "So you're really not mad at me?"

He waited a few seconds before responding, which only made Parker that much more nervous, "No I'm not. You made me realize what I did was the same thing. Huh I just wish all of this could have been avoided because I think I've broken a total of about five cups over the past couple of days."

She laughed giving him a small smile when she saw him smiling at her, "Yeah sorry about that, but if you weren't so stubborn maybe you could have avoided breaking about three of those."

"Haha…maybe."

They fell into silence after that, both of them wondering where things were going to go now that they've both admitted that they loved one another. Parker was the one to speak up first because she was tired of waiting things out, "So what do we do now?"

Nate shrugged, "I was thinking the same thing."

"Pfft isn't it obvious," Sophie said her voice coming through the televisions, "You already confessed to love so now the only thing to do is to get together, duh."

"Sophie? What are you doing?" Nate asked.

"Trying to give two clueless people a clue on what to do," she told him, "I didn't plan all of that just to have you two not get together."

"Just go," Nate yelled in disbelief, "You're beginning to become more annoying than Hardison and that's a hard feat to accomplish."

"Now I know why he's so cranky," she explained, "I'd be cranky too if I was treated this way all the time, but I suppose I'll leave you two alone but you better not leave, Parker, until you guys establish a relationship or I'll con the pair of you."

"Bye Sophie," Nate told her.

"Yeah, yeah," she said before cutting off her connection.

"You can't say she isn't determined," Parker told him laughing finding the whole thing rather hilarious.

"I think they call it obsessed not determined."

"True, but she does have a point," the thief told him becoming nervous again, "Since we do love each other we might as well start a relationship, but that's just my opinion."

He gave her a smile reaching out to hold her hands in his, "I definitely agree with you; that would be the most logical thing to do. So tell me how torturous for you was this whole thing?"

"Argh you don't even know," Parker began, "I had to actually hug Eliot and touch him without it hurting, do you know how hard that was for me? This whole con was just terrible; I'm never going to let Sophie talk me into another one…ever. And he kissed me, I mean it wasn't a real kiss but his lips still made contact with me."

Nate laughed then stood up walking over to Parker's side of the table and stopped in front of her, "Well maybe I can make you forget about the kiss he gave you."

Her heart began pounding in her chest; did he mean what she thought he meant? "And how would you do that?"

He leaned down and when their lips were only millimeters apart he whispered, "Like this," before capturing her lips in a chaste kiss; it felt even more amazing than he imagined it would and knew that this would become his new favorite pastime. He pulled back with a huge smile plastered on his face, "Don't tell Sophie but I'm kinda glad she pulled the con on me."

"It'll be our little secret," Parker told him before pulling him back to her wanting to experience another incredible kiss from the man she loved.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

A couple of days later Nate finally forgave Eliot and mostly forgave Sophie for what they put him through earlier that week. He and Parker were currently on the couch enjoying a movie and their time alone together.

She looked up at him which caught his eye causing him to tilt his head down towards her, "What?"

"Nothing," she said simply, "I just love you is all."

"Haha. Well that's a relief," he told her leaning down to whisper the rest, "because I happen to love you too."

"Show me."

"Gladly," he answered leaning down for a kiss pulling her onto his lap absolutely loving the last couple of days; he couldn't imagine being with anyone else and was definitely glad that Parker really didn't want to be with Eliot.

"Oh my God! I _have_ stepped into another universe," Hardison yelled when he saw Parker straddling Nate on the couch, "What in the hell people? Is there something in the water cause I ain't going to drink it if I'm going to find myself making out with one of you people."

Parker quickly jumped off of Nate completely startled at Hardison's voice, but Nate just threw his head back against the couch with a loud, aggravated groan, "You have the worst timing of anyone I know Hardison."

"Uh-uh you ain't gonna blame this," he did a circling motion with his arm in front of him, "on me. I can't help I'm gone for only a week, a week mind you, and not only did I catch Parker and Eliot going at it, I come home to find you and Parker going at it; on the couch that everyone sits on. Do I have to inform you people we _all_ use the items in this room because obviously you seem to forget that little tidbit of information?"

"For the last time Hardison, Eliot was teaching me how to play pool….well I guess not really-"

"HA! I told you it was more than that," he interjected pointing his finger accusingly at her, "I'm not stupid."

"We were trying to make Nate jealous…..so yeah you still had it wrong," she smiled smugly at him.

"Make Nate jealous?"

"I'm not explaining so if you want the whole story go talk to Sophie," Nate informed the hacker not wanting to go through the whole story of how he and Parker ended up together.

"Oh I will."

"So how did it go with Ashley?" Parker asked innocently.

Hardison's face went from one to determination to instant sadness and anger, "Man that whole trip was a waste of time; she was married. Can you believe that?"

"Wow how bad was her marriage that she was willing to cheat on her husband with you?" Parker asked jokingly eliciting a laugh from Nate. "Or did she find out about you sleeping with a teddy bear? You can tell us the truth Alec."

"I told you it blocks the light from my alarm clock, enough said. And no she didn't find out, she really was married," he said dejectedly, "Why is my luck so terrible? It just ain't right and now I'm going to have to watch you two be all lovey-dovey towards each other, life just ain't fair."

"Nope," Nate stated, "So how about you go take your unlucky self somewhere else?"

"Oh I see. Kicking me out already, I'm not even home for thirty minutes. You are definitely some rude people, but I guess I'll go talk to Sophie to see how you two even happened but I swear I'm still in the Twilight Zone."

"Alright then. Goodbye," Nate waved from the couch.

"See ya," Hardison stated before heading over to Sophie's, who of course told a slightly different tale of how things occurred.

Parker then straddled Nate again on the couch, "I swear he's one of the hardest people to get rid of."

"That he is," Nate agreed before bringing her down for another loving kiss glad that everything happened the way it did no matter how weird it may have played out.

END

A/N: Whoot, I am done! I'm so glad because I struggled with this story more than my other ones but I did it. I would love it if you guys would leave a review because I love reading about what you guys think. :)


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